Moleskine and the Moleskine Foundation bring Detour, their travelling notebook-art exhibition, to Tokyo this September. The show gathers transformed Moleskine notebooks made by artists, designers, architects and everyday people — tiny, focused works that show how a simple notebook becomes a tool for creative thought.
The Tokyo stop runs at 21_21 DESIGN SIGHT (Gallery 3) from September 10 to 23, 2025. The gallery lists daily hours from 10:00–19:00 and free admission, making it an easy visit between work and sightseeing.
What is Detour?
Detour is a travelling exhibition curated by Moleskine featuring decorated notebooks by internationally recognised artists, architects, film directors, graphic designers, musicians, illustrators and writers. Visitors are invited to explore and discover each author’s creative process as it unfolds on the blank pages of a Moleskine notebook.
What You’ll See
Detour is a large-scale, travelling collection that brings together notebooks altered, illustrated, sculpted and hacked into single artworks. Previous editions have shown notebooks from major creators and students alike; the collection highlights the creative process as much as finished pieces. This Tokyo presentation follows showings in cities such as London, Paris, New York, Milan and the recent Osaka–Kansai Expo site.
To commemorate the Tokyo edition, 16 new works have been donated with the collaboration of curator Yuko Hasegawa and SKAC (SKWAT KAMEARI ART CENTRE), a bookstore and cultural hub in Kameari. The new participating artists include poet Gozo Yoshimasu, sculptor Kohei Nawa, actor Rihito Itagaki, artist Asami Kiyokawa, designer Kunihiko Morinaga, architectural collective GROUP, artist Saiko Otake, sculptor Tetsuya Nakamura, artist Lauren Tsai, singer AiNA THE END, and designer Yosuke Matsumoto (MIYAKE DESIGN STUDIO), among others. Altogether, the exhibition will showcase 41 works spanning diverse creative fields. Several of the works incorporate NOTE-A-NOTE, a forthcoming collaborative design object by MIYAKE DESIGN STUDIO.
Exhibition Information
Dates and times: Sept 10–23, 2025; 10:00–19:00, open daily
Venue: 21_21 DESIGN SIGHT, Roppongi (Gallery 3)
If you are a stationery lover, don’t forget that Kamihaku (紙博) will also take place in Tokyo from September 19 to 21, 2025.